PMI-ACP Prep Workshop

I am very excited to announce that I will begin offering my own 3-day PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner Certification Prep workshop, beginning September 26-28.  The workshop will be offered at the Bridge Education Training Facility located at 6716 Alexander Bell Drive, Suite 100, in Columbia, Maryland.  As an added bonus, for those who register for the September (and the to-be-announced October) class, I will give each attendee a free ticket to AgileDC 2011.

Count on 3 full days of learning, simulation, and Legos!

Who Should Attend/Prerequisites

Although this prep course is primarily targeted towards project management professionals interested in achieving the PMI-ACP(sm)  certification, it could benifit many others. It is an effective foundation for anyone interested in adopting and leveraging Agile techniques, including Product & Line Managers, Program Managers, IT Managers, or Senior Technicians.

Course Overview

The PMI-ACP(sm) certification requires the candidate to have 2,000 hours of general Project Management experience, 1,500 hours of Agile Project Management experience, 21 training hours in an Agile specific curriculum, and pass the PMI-ACP(sm) certification exam.

This course will satisfy all of the training requirements for the exam. After taking this course, students will have the strong foundation needed to begin preparing for the certification exam.

Take your course from one of only a few instructors who were independent reviewers of the curriculum, as it was being developed. As independent reviewers of the PMI-ACP, it was our job to modify, revise, update or delete elements to ensure that it was comprehensive, contemporary (reflective of current practice), concise, and clear.

Learning Objectives

The course will provide a broad survey of Agile PM tools, techniques, skills, and knowledge areas. Within the 3-Day course, we will cover all 6 domains of the upcoming PMI-ACP exam

• Value Driven Delivery

• Stakeholder Engagement

• Boosting Team Performance Practices

• Adaptive Planning

• Problem Detection and Resolution

• Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, People)

Some of the topics covered include:

• Active Listening

• Adaptive Leadership

• Agile Frameworks and Terminology

• Agile Manifesto Values and Principles

• Agile Project Accounting Principles

• Assessing and Incorporating Stakeholder Values

• Applying New Agile Practices

• Building High Performance and Empowered Teams

• Coaching and Mentoring within teams

• Communications Management

• Co-Located and Geographically Distributed Teams

• Conflict Resolution

• Continuous Improvement

• Elements of a Project Charter for an Agile project

• Facilitation Methods

• Feedback Techniques (e.g. Prototypes, Simulation, Demonstration, Evaluation)

• Globalization, Culture, and Team Diversity

• Incremental Delivery

• Innovation Games

• Knowledge and Information Sharing

• Leadership tools and Techniques

• PMI's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

• Problem Solving Strategies

• Product Roadmapping

• Progressive Elaboration

• Project and Quality Standards

• Principles of Systems Thinking (e.g., complex adaptive, chaos)

• Servant-Leadership

• Stakeholder Management

• Team Motivation Techniques

• Time, Budget, and Cost Estimation

• Variations of Agile Methods and Approaches

• Value Based Analysis, Decomposition, and Prioritization

When:

Monday, September 26, 2011 9:00 AM - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 4:30 PM (Eastern Time)

Where:

Bridge Education Training Facility 6716 Alexander Bell Dr. Suite 100 Columbia, Maryland 21046

Cost:

$1,495 per attendee (plus travel and expenses for private workshops)

Drawing courtesy of Pictofigo

P in your Network

I've recently been paying more attention to signs and indicators. Though Stop signs or Yield signs are a given, I'm talking signs that you find around homes (Welcome to our ool. Notice there is no "P" in it. Let's keep it that way) and businesses (Drink coffee. Do stupid things faster with energy). Last night, I attended the monthly APLN DC (Washington DC Chapter of the Agile Project Leadership Network). When friend and colleague Manoj Vadakkan kicked off the event last night, he announced that both the name (APLN) and logo had changed.  It will now be known as the Agile Leadership Network.  After telling people for the last few years that they could leverage agile principles and values in areas other than software development or just projects, I'm happy to see the change.  It should certainly help reinforce concepts like servant-leadership, outside of the application development world.  I went to the "new" ALN website and read a message on behalf of the board of directors.

In keeping with the agile spirit, APLN has continued to evolve since its inception. Over the last year or so, the national board has had an ongoing discussion about “getting the ‘P’ out”. That’s ‘P’ as in ‘Project’; as in Agile ‘Project’ Leadership Network. Why do that?

As agile practices for software development projects have become more prominent, broader application of agile principles and values has come more to the forefront. It is not that we no longer want to talk about these projects; we do and will. But we also want to talk about more than projects and we think the 10-year anniversary of the Agile Manifesto is an appropriate milestone to recognize that evolution.

Let this be notice to everyone out there to start updating their websites or documents listing APLN.

Will Agile for Food

Will Agile for food

By close of business yesterday, we lost 10 people. No, we didn't lose 10 resources. We lost people.  They came to work every day, doing their jobs, thinking they provided some kind of value to the organization.  Unfortunately, some saw the costs outweighing the benefits.  The positions have been eliminated.  I get it.  Business is business.  Times have been tough, even for the Federal Government.  Everyone has to tighten their belts.  Even with the Reduction In Force (RIF), we're still dealing with a very probable government shutdown in a week.   I'm in a weird situation here.  This is the first time I've been the one who survived the first round of a RIF.  Some 20 years ago, I worked for McDonell Douglas.  In one day, over 10,000 of us got RIF'd (lost our jobs). At that time, the organization didn't care who you were.  The longer you had been with them, the longer you lasted in a layoff.  It actually made me quite angry.  The union members who had been there the longest, who did the least amount of work, got to keep their jobs.  The newer employees were the first to go (LIFO).

I think I understand the government's approach to this first round.  The "positions" eliminated were too specialized or too generalized.  Either the person only took notes in meetings or only dealt with risks, only dealt with EVM or only wanted to work part time.

Though I'm the only one here who has any background with Agile, perhaps that was to my benefit.  I think I'm still here because I made it my business to know as much as possible about what was going on, on a Program level.  I stepped up at every turn to see if I could help with something, regardless if it was my specialty.  I could wear a Product Owner hat if asked or switch hats between a ScrumMaster and a Project Manager.

But, I can't help but feel that my time here is coming to an end.  In one day, the culture has changed.  In one day I went from servant-leader to job counselor.

If the right opportunity comes along, where I can help people deliver more value or increase Agile adoption, I will certainly consider it.

Like the drawing?  Get the original one from Pictofigo

Jeff Sutherland & APLN DC

Last night I had the honor and privilege to listen to Jeff (co-creator of Scrum) Sutherland speak. There were roughly 95 of us attending the APLN DC event. It was great to see faces of the local Agile community. I have to keep this post short. My plane is boarding for Salt Lake City. I just wanted to prove I could write a blog post on my Droid X.

Busy Week Ahead

If you don't hear from me for a few days, here's why.  Tonight I'm headed to the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) Washington DC Area Chapter event. The topic? Using Scrum to avoid bad CMMI Implementations (Presented by Jeff Sutherland). Yes, that's right! Jeff "creator of Scrum and signer of the Agile Manifesto" Sutherland. I don't sound too excited, do I? I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people from the Agile community there. Tomorrow, I fly out to Salt Lake City to make an appearance at the Work Management Summit.  Follow it on Twitter with hashtag (#workout11) I don't know exactly what is in store for me.  I'm a special speaking guest of AtTask and I will be interviewed by @tykiisel and @RaeLogan in a live video webcast.  My instructions for my appearance: Please wear something that exemplifies your personal brand.

I will be the guy with spiky hair, horn-rimmed glasses, Doc Martens, and jeans (yes, I am wearing a collared shirt).  It's a bit of a departure from my normal office attire.  This includes, monogrammed cuff-linked shirts, wingtips, and a tie.  Though I'm much more of the Doc Marten guy, I understand C-Levels and SES don't always get it.

I'll be flying back to Washington DC on Thursday, due to time constraints.  Though I only get to spend 1 full day in Utah, this will be a great experience and I'm looking forward to meeting Ty and Raechel.  I will take plenty of pictures of the Grand America Hotel and try to blog while I'm there.

If you want to meet up for a drink, send me an email or direct message me via Twitter.

Like the image? Find it at pictofigo

Plan to Fail

We live at a lake property so we're pretty far in the sticks.  We have an HOA, which contracts work for snow removal and stuff like that.  Last year we had several snow storms in the Washington DC area.  The HOA was not prepared for several snow storms in succession and we found ourselves stranded for 4 days.  Yes, 4 days!  But, it wasn't all bad.  After the first storm got us, I reached out the HOA and recommend they keep the community informed of what was happening.  Though we may not see a plow for a day or 2, we would at least know it.  Each time we had a storm, the HOA got better at informing us of what they were doing. Here we are, a year later.  The forecast was for 6-12 inches of snow.  I was curious if the HOA had refined their communications and snow removal practices from the year before.  I kept thinking to myself.  People don't plan to fail; they fail to plan.

We certainly did get the snow.  It's close to 12 inches.  I left the office early to get home before the snow (thunderstorms) arrived.  As the snow stacked higher and higher, we began hearing reports of people abandoning their cars on the roads leading to our house.  (They clearly failed to plan accordingly)  We even saw one of our neighbors get stuck at the bottom of our hill, blocking the plows from getting to our neighborhood.

So, how did the HOA refine their communications process from last year?  Did they fail to plan accordingly?  To the contrary, I feel they did a great job.  They designated community representatives.  We are encouraged to have an open dialog with them.  The HOA did send out emails informing everyone when the plows were going to arrive.  This year they took it one step further, by creating a feedback loop.  When our neighborhood was not plowed, due to the abandoned car, I contacted my community representative.  Though I had to leave a voicemail, she called me back within 30 minutes.  She assured me our neighborhood will be plowed this afternoon.  Without the feedback loop, they would have not known there were any issues.  And so, our HOA process improvement continues.

Communications vs. Customer Satisfaction

Communications Level	Customer Satisfaction
0-Way (None)	Very Unsatisfied
1-Way (Email distribution)	Satisfied
2-Way (Telephone conversation)	Very Satisfied

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Agile and American Football

This post is about Agile, not football. I like to use analogies so please, please don't crucify me!

The football analogy

In 1983, at Superbowl XVII, the Washington Redskins beat the Miami Dolphins. It was a game my wife, who was born in the Washington DC area, reminds me of every time the Washington Redskins play a game.  Mind you, I'm usually not watching the games. I'm off pondering what I would do if zombies tried to storm our home. Do I have enough plywood and nails? Do we have enough ammunition? But I digress.

So, what was unique about this particular team that made them so successful?  Was it their head coach, Joe Gibbs?  Was it the coaching staff, the team, or all of the above?  Was it a simple process or detailed approach? I guess if they knew what the magic formula was, they would have repeated the winning season over and over again.   Unfortunately, life doesn't work like that and neither do projects or football teams.  The Washington Redskins have won only 2 Super Bowls since.  Gibbs retired from the team.  Then, over a decade later, Joe Gibbs returned to the team, determined to take them back to the Super Bowl.  As part of his strategy, he hired Al Saunders as the offensive coordinator.  What I found interesting was Al Saunders' offensive playbook reportedly had approximately 700 pages of various plays.  Seriously!?  700 pages!  Why would you think detailing play scenarios ad nauseum in a 700 page playbook would give you better results than having the team follow a few basic rules and then empowering them to make decisions on the field?

PMI PMBOK

The PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) Fourth Edition has 506 pages.  Some look at it like a cryptic instructional manual to all thing project management.  Some merely look at it as something to reference from time to time, when someone asks "well, what does the PMBOK say?" And some look at it as the obstacle between them and obtaining the PMP credential.

Now, I don't think for a minute, if you try to follow the PMBOK to the letter, you are guaranteeing project success.  That may be the reason you see "Expert Judgment" listed so many times in the inputs-outputs.

Agile Manifesto

4 things we come to value

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan

12 principles we follow

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

Which playbook would you rather follow?

Agile DC 2010

On a cool day in October, the Agile Tour came to DC to talk Agile essentials, Agile in enterprise, and Agile in government. In the days leading up to the event, the Twitter buzz showed the event was running out of tickets.  By the time the event started, it was at capacity for the venue.

This was the first Agile Tour DC.  This one day conference aimed to serve agile practitioners in the DC area through 3 tracks.

1. Agile Essentials – Get the skills you need to get started.
2. Enterprise and Government Agility – See how it works in the large and hear from a Panel of practitioners working in government.
3. Open Talks Track – Create the conference you want in this Open Space (like) track.  If you didn't see a talk on one of the other two tracks, you cold propose a topic or attend one of the 4 concurrent Open Talks.

Before we got started, Bob Payne, one of the organizers of the event, spoke a little about the event and where some of the money was going.  AgileDC is a not-for-profit conference organized by Agile Philanthropy.    See more below

Compared to the last conference I attended, the PMI Global Congress (<= $1,600), this event had a lot of bang for the buck.  Agile DC 2010 was less than $100!  Now, I'm not going to do a lot of comparing of the PMI Global Congress to this event.  OK, yes I am.   I think PMI missed an opportunity to do some real good in the world.  How is it PMI can charge up to $1,600 and not champion some cause(s) that could really benefit from a few dollars?  Here are some side-by-side comparisons.

	PMI Global Congress	Agile Tour DC
Venue	Gaylord Hotel and Resort	Fannie Mae Conference Center
Transportation	Non-Metro Accessible	Metro Accessible
Duration	3 days	1 day
Price	$1,125 - $1,600	$75 - $90
Food	Average	Above Average
Session Quality	Excellent	Excellent

• Overall, both the PMI Global Congress (Agile sessions) and the Agile Tour DC had excellent presenters.  After that, I think Agile Tour DC was the winner.
• The Agile event was Metro accessible.  In contrast, it took me 2.5 hours to drive to the PMI event.  I then had to pay $20 for parking, compared to $5 at a Metro garage.
• When it comes to the duration of the event, I'm looking for the Goldilocks and the three bears of conferences.  1 day is too short; 3 days is too long; 2 days would be just right.
• Cost.  Did I mention this event was less than $100!?
• The food was good.  Seriously, it was pretty darned good!  One little tidbit, the coffee at the PMI event was below-average to average.  The coffee at the Agile event was average to above-average.

The day was kicked off with a keynote by Sanjiv Augustine, an industry-leading agile and lean expert.  We then took a 15 minute break before splitting off to our separate tracks.  I have to say, you know it's a good conference when you're conflicted which session to attend.

I then sat to hear Agile & Government by Paul Boos.  Good stuff.

Next, I sat for Agile in the Enterprise and NFP (Not For Profit), presented by Tiffany Lentz and Jeff Wishnie of Thoughtworks.

I think the best part of my experience came next, from the panel discussion about Agile in Government.

Members of the panel included: Don Johnson - providing thought leadership in the acquisition of Information Technology across the Department of Defense. Josh Hendler - serves as the Director of Technology at the Democratic National Committee. Richard Cheng - managing consultant at Excella Consulting, providing consulting services to commercial and Federal clients in the Washington, DC area. Paul Boos - serves as the software maintenance lead for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP).

It was a very engaging panel discussion and they all brought some very unique perspectives to the conference.

I then saw Sanjiv Augustine present Agile Portfolio Management.  I think the best part of Sanjiv's presentation was that it offered something for everyone.  You didn't need to be a seasoned Agilist to enjoy it.  If you ever get a chance to see Sanjiv present, do it.

The last session I attended, Emerging IT Acquisition Processes Within DoD,  was by Don Johnson from the Department of Defense.  I would like to say Wow!  To see what is happening over at DoD is nothing short of remarkable.  The one question I get asked by people in the Federal Government is does Agile work in the Federal space.  Don proves that it can and that is does.

That's about it.  It was a great event.  I look forward to the next.

If you get a chance, clear your calendars for October 14, 2011.  That's the tentative date for the next Agile DC Conference.

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AgileDC is a not-for-profit conference organized by Agile Philanthropy. Agile Philanthropy’s mission is to assist not-for-profits through fund raising and volunteerism. For more information visit AgilePhilanthropy.org or contact Bob Payne 202-903-6854.

Conference not-for-profit beneficiaries:

Mano a Mano International provides critical healthcare and infrastructure development in Bolivia.

Haiti Partners provides education and educational support in Haiti. Since the recent earthquake they have been serving their communities with earthquake relief and humanitarian services.

FreshFarm Markets helps create farmers markets in the DC area and provides matching funds allowing WIC and Food Stamp recipients to buy nutritious local food. Their work sustains local agriculture, schools and local families.